DA II Fantasy
by rptifearogue
Summary: In chapter II of Dragon Age origins Fenris is confronted by his former master, but not exactly in the same way it was portrayed in the game XP.


DAII Fantasy part 1

This entry will have to be quick… well as quick as I can make it before the sun goes down.

Fenris was taken from us today. We were heading to the elven encampment to find the so called 'legendary beast' for the Herbalist's task. I had Merrill, Varric and, of course, Fenris with me. On our way I heard rustling in the mountains. I told everyone to hold position so that I could scout out for a trap. It was an ambush. About ten or twelve mercenaries came out from the trees and started attacking us, but that wasn't something a little confusion-gas couldn't fix. Since so many of them were clustered up around us, Varric and I were able to get them all confused, Fenris then pushed back the group and Merrill used her Tempest spell to shock and stun everyone so that Varric, Fenris and I could kill them all.

Once they were all defeated I heard clapping, and I wasn't the only one. We all looked in the direction of the noise and saw a mage standing at the top of a hill, or mountain thing, not too far from us. The man said, "You still haven't lost your touch have you."

Then before the man could even finished his sentence, Fenris yelled, "Danarius!" It was his former slave owner. Until today I had never seen a mage from Tevinter, he was so… decorated. I could only guess, from what Fenris told me, and from the looks of this mage, that mages in that country were, 'highly ranked'? He looked rich, and nothing on him seemed as if his powers were being held back by the Imperial Circle, if there was a circle in Tevinter Imperium. He was a free and powerful man that wore fine clothing and weald an expensive looking staff, but, if Bethany saw him I bet she would have been ashamed. His cynical smile gave off the aura of a demon.

Danarius, from what I saw, had only his eyes on Fenris as he spoke, he didn't even pay attention to the rest of us. After breaking away from being entranced by this mage, I realized that Fenris was charging at Danarius in a rage but right before Fenris was able to smash him, Danarius flicked his hand and gave a command, "Fenris, kill them".

For a second, I thought I saw something from my right eye. Some kind of blue dust came out of Danarius's hand, but even now I'm still not sure. Merrill said she'd come over to my house before night fall and tell me what she might have found about that. But once Danarius gave Fenris the word he stopped. And once he stopped I was sure I saw the lyrium on his body glow. He turned around and looked at us and, I guess it just didn't hit me until it was too late. He attacked us. Merrill and Varric were able to get out of the way… but I was hit… hard. Although I was hit, I was still able to get back on my feet and distance myself from Fenris.

I still can't understand now, what I couldn't understand then. He was right in front of Danarius, but he jumped back and attacked us. Now I wonder if this had any connection with the Fog Warrior group that he killed before. None the less, I tried to talk him out of it. I asked him what he was doing, why he would be attacking his friends… even me… but no answer, all he did was try to hit me and scratch my armor off to make me more vulnerable.

Then I asked him one final question, "Fenris, you're free remember?! Why listen to Danarius now?! Don't you hate him?!"

I was blocking his huge sword with my two daggers; his strength combined with that sword's weight could only be compared to me trying to carry a horse or maybe even something heavier. And as my strength was waning Fenris responded, but his response hurt me so much that now… now I know for sure that something was wrong with him. Something had to be wrong with Fenris when he responded with "Danarius is my master, and his order was I kill you."

Fenris then quickly raised his sword to try and break me with a second strike. I then took out another confusion-gas bomb from my belt and threw it at him, to distract him. And in the midst his confusion we all left for Kirkwall, but I couldn't make it all the way.

Next thing I knew, I was at Anders place feeling drowsy. Anders was telling Aveline something… I can't really remember. I asked Aveline if Merrill and Varric were alright; they were fine. Once I tried to get up I felt a sharp pain on my left arm… the arm that Fenris scraped with his blade. Anders then told me to lie back down, that I was still injured. I then asked the others "what are we going to do about Fenris?" by this time everyone was in the room but Varric, supposedly giving me some privacy, and went outside.

"Well? We can't just leave him with Danarius."

Then Merrill asked, "well, what can we do? Even during my time training as Keeper, I have never seen or felt an elf with that kind of strength. I know it must be the lyrium in him but with all that power… how are we going to get him back without one of us… well…"

Aveline then agreed with adding the fact that I gave him a pretty amazing sword that could also cut us all in half… Isabela then said "I'm sorry Tifea but without some kind of plan… I'm not sure if we can get Fenris back…"

Immediately after Isabela said that, I said that I would think of a plan. I wasn't going to leave Fenris there with that abomination… "A night attack" I said. Then I got up, despite Anders's warnings, and before I explained the plan to the rest of the group I asked Merrill about the dust stuff that I saw come out of Danarius's hand.

"I'll look around and see what I can find", said Merrill and she left.

I then turned around and explained my thinking. "Danarius told Fenris, while we were … leaving… that they were going to leave tomorrow to Tevinter, I know that he'll be staying in a house, probably not in Kirkwall, but somewhere around it." Isabela asked me how I was so sure of that, and I didn't quite answer her question when I told her that I would ask my business partner in the city if he could find out where Danarius could be staying.

"Then what?" said Varric now coming into the room, "we can't just walk in there asking for the Elf back." I was so bothered by their responses, they weren't even willing to go after Fenris… or maybe they just didn't know what to do and were trying to make me think the whole thing through. Either way I told them that I had a plan and I'd tell the ones that were coming with me, to get Fenris, what to do at night fall.

I think that's Merrill… I'll write again, once we get Fenris back.

Part II

"Merrill! Glad you got here in time. So what was that dust?"

Merrill and Tifea then headed up to Tifea's room so that they could talk about this in privacy. While they sat on the bed and Merrill laid down an old, battered and tired looking Elven book and opened it up to a page with several pictures of different kinds of dust particles. Under each picture Tifea could only presume was a description about each dust group, but it was all written in Elven so not much of it could be read by her.

"Right here, this is the dust that Danarius put on Fenris before he turned on us… I mean, I know it's not like you can read it but… I'm sorry let me just read it to you."

As Merrill reads, her thin index finger underlines each word, only to keep Tifea on track with where she's at.

"Hypnotic Dust. This dust was once used upon living creatures by the Elves to allow them to gain trust with 'said' creatures. The being would still have its senses but would have to listen to its master, the person who threw the dust. After wearing off the creature would gain back control of its actions then decide upon whether the master was worthy of following.

"All living creatures on world of Toril have a portion of lyrium in their body whether it is a small portion, for example a bird, or large portions, such as mages. The Hypnotic Dust's potency on the host creature will increase directly with the amount of lyrium in the host's body. The more lyrium possessed by the host being, the longer the master will be able to control the host… and then it goes on about how the different amounts of lyrium are equal to the amount of time the controling las-"

"That's why!" Tifea screamed, "that's why Fenris even listened to Danarius! And why Danarius put those tattoos all over him, so that he could make sure Fenris never gets out of his control…"

"That's a horrible… but that still doesn't tell us what we are going to do to get Fenris back…"

"I know what we're going to doing. We just need to get in there and kill Danarius."

Tifea then got out of the bed and walked towards the fire.

"We will get Fenris back Merrill…"

"Aveline! You and Varric are coming with Merrill and me to go get Fenris."

Aveline was just working at her table, in the Guard Captain's Office, before she heard this unexpected demand.

"Are you sure you're well enough to go Tifea? I mean that attack-"

"Hurry we need to get Varric then talk to Hubert f- about the information on Danarius."

Aveline then got up from her desk to stand in front of Tifea as if she was in the military ready to take command.

"Very well Hawk, but you had better watch yourself."

"Thanks Aveline"

Merrill then walked up next to the two, smiling and ready to go.

"Um… Well, let's go get Varric then shall we?"

After picking up Varric, the party headed into Hightown, a subsection of Kirkwall, to find Tifea's business partner, Hubert. Hubert was a good business man but a bad person to be around, the slightest thing could tick him off, especially if it is going to cost him something.

"Here is the information you requested Hawk" he says, handing an envelope to Tifea, "one of my contacts actually rented the estate to Danarius two days ago, isn't that a coincidence, is it not?"

Aveline then looked at Tifea in surprise, "you didn't even get the information about this guy before rallying us?"

Tifea, opening the envelope, started turning towards the exit of the city ready to leave, "I told you I was going to get it and I did. I didn't say when."

Varric just stood and laughed at the look on Aveline's face then looked at Tifea, "that's just like you, Hawk."

Tifea looked over her shoulder and grinned at Varric, then looked up at the others "okay everyone, we leave when the sun starts to set, so get ready!"

Part III

"Danarius!"

This is the only sound that could be heard among the clanging of chains and yelling of guards as they attempted to put a prisoner into one of the estate's cells. But this wasn't any ordinary prisoner, at least not for an elf. It took ten of Danarius's best men at the estate to hold down the elf, in order for two others to chain him to the back of the cell. The damp floors and cold air didn't help the guards much, but it almost allowed the elf to escape their grasp. With the elf's equipment on the other side of the dungeon, outside of his prison cell, and him chained down, all the guards left the cell, locked it and waited for their next orders from their leader.

Down the stairs came the well decorated and elegant mage, Danarius, into the dismal and cold area of the prison, only to confront his one prisoner.

"Fenris, I am glad to see you back on my side."

The elf stood up from the floor and glared at the mage with in fury, "It wasn't by choice."

Danarius then looked him in the eyes and smiled, "choice or not, how long did you think you could run away from me? I am your master, and I have found you before, what made you think that this predicament would be any different? The fact that it might have taken me a little longer to gain enough forces to get my 'Little Wolf' back?… Or perhaps not." Danarius then slowly started walking around the front of Fenris's cell looking up at the ceiling, as if the idea of his was going to take him years of thought to produce. "Perhaps it was that girl… Yes… that rogue." He looked back at Fenris, "I saw how she looks at you, and how surprised she was when she saw you turn on her-"

"Shut up!"

"Oh but that wasn't even the best part," uttered Danarius, "No, the best part was the look on her face when you answered her question, her last question… the one where you answered why you would follow, or was it listen, to me if you hated me…"

Fenris started to flex his arms only hoping that if he charged fast enough that the chains would break,"I will kill you for what you've made me do-!"

"Silence!" Danarius was now infuriated and grinding his teeth in rage, even aura of red mist seemed to engulf his body. And upon this sight, all of Danarius's guards stepped back to avoid his anger, "She is the one that has filled your head with all these idiotic delusions. These false truths of you ever being free from me! I am your master not her, and I am the one who chooses the date of your freedom! And if you don't want to lose everything you have now, any time soon, then I suggest you get that through your head, elf."

After his enraged rant, Danarius left the dungeon and ordered his men to guard the opening to the door at the top of the stairs. After his master left, Fenris tried to at least touch he's cage's metal bars but he knew Danarius was smarter than that. The chains that cuffed him only would allow him to be three feet from the prison door, knowing well enough Fenris could escape being any closer.

So with no escape and no knowledge of a rescue Fenris sat and considered his situation.

"What are the odds that she would even think to send anyone after me… or to even come herself?… I almost. I could have killed her with one swing of that sword." In the midst of realizing what he'd done, Fenris's thoughts began to spiral. "Whenever I'm mad I always take it out on her, like when she helped me kill Hadriana…" Fenris sighed and continued to think, until he came up with the answer to his question. "She isn't coming…"

_Danarius was right… what was I thinking, that I'd be free from him with her. I don't even know how to act properly around her, or as Merrill says, to be happy. I should accept that Tifea isn't coming and that I'm stuck with him… again._

"Hurry we need to be there by sundown."

Merrill tiredly looked to Tifea, "why sundown when it's so dark? Or, I mean, why _exactly_ at sundown?"

"Because we need all the time we can get to get Fenris out of the mansion, and my contact said that Danarius likes 'to turn in early' before he leaves on overseas or 'long time' trips. So he should have been in bed about an hour ago which gives us enough time to get in without waking him up, get Fenris and get out."

Aveline looked at Tifea in astonishment, "you didn't really get all that out of that one letter did you?"

"Yeah I did, you can read it if you want, apparently this is the same guy he that Danarius bought the mansion from in Hightown. He's a regular customer to him."

Varric smiled, "good thing that the inability for someone to keep their mouth shut is good for us huh?"

"You got that right."

_Don't worry Fenris, I refuse to let you to go back to a life of slavery, whether Danarius likes it or not._

It took Tifea and her group about an hour to arrive at the estate in the middle of nowhere of a forest and even then it was heavily guarded, well in some places it was. Once they arrived they started to lap around the moon lit estate to find a weak spot.

"There," whispered Varric.

In front of the group stood only two lowly guards standing watch near an entrance to the estate.

"Ok," said Tifea, "what's the plan?"

"Well," responded Varric as he loaded Bianca, his crossbow, "we knock 'um out, see who comes, then knock them out… after they move around a bit."

So Tifea and Varric loaded their weapons…

"1… 2…3…"

On three, they simultaneously shot the gaurds. Immediately two others show up from either side and looked at the bodies. Upon seeing the position of the arrow they move towards the bushes, where Tifea and her group were hiding in.

Varric closed an eye, "Closer…Closer… Closer…"

"Varric" whispered Aveline.

"Fire" whispered Varric.

—_Swffip—_

And they were down.

"We should move the bodies back here so that-"

Just as Tifea spoke, Merrill's mana syphon was erasing each of the bodies all the way up to the door, leaving no trace of any deaths.

Surprised Tifea simply smiled at Merrill, "well!"

"Let's go before they see us," grinned the elf.

"She's right Tifea, let's go," agrees Aveline.

They all headed in making sure to close the door behind them. Once inside they finally saw the maze that they walked into. But time was running out, if they got lost or made too much noise it would wake Danarius, so Tifea split up the group, hoping that she would be able to infiltrate rooms and search for Fenris while the other stayed back as look outs.

Sneaking, searching, the group looked through almost every inch of the building without being seen; looking for anything that looked like the opening to a cellar or prison or basement or something.

"How do you know there's even a cellar in this place," questioned Merrill, "what if Danarius actually gave Fenris a room or put him in a room with other-"

"There," whispered Tifea as she glanced around the corner. "There're two people guarding the door."

"How do you know it's there?" asked Merrill.

"Because it's the only door being guarded in this building Merrill," answered Aveline.

"Ready Varric?"

"You got it Hawk."

_-Swiffp-_

And they were down, Merrill erased the bodies as Tifea picked the lock on the door. Once opened, Tifea went down into the cellar while Varric, Aveline and Merrill waited outside. As Tifea stepped quietly down the stairs she began to hear voices.

"Hey, didn't Danarius tell us to patrol outside, you know with the other two?"

"Nah, who's going to find this place in the middle of nowhere? Besides I like watching this elf sulk. Heh, what a wuss."

The guard that spoke turned around to look at Fenris, as the other one backed up pretending to be afraid.

"Ha-ha! Not too loud, he can hear you. You don't want to get on his bad side-"

_-swiffp-_

The guard near Fenris started laughing as he turned to face his friend, "yeah, and we… wouldn't… want…"

Feeling the sharp pinch of Tifea's arrow at his chest the guard fell silent.

Irritated the rogue simply stared him down in anger and whispered, "You wouldn't want to get on my bad side either."

_-swiffp-_

"Do you guys think Fenris is down there?" asked Aveline.

"Might be, considering how long we've been waiting."

"Shush," whispered Merrill, "I think I hear someone—"

The prison door opened with a high pitched squeak while Fenris still sat, cross legged and closed eyed, only to not be annoyed by the sight of any guards ridiculing him.

"What do you idiots want now?"

"Well, there's only one of me here so I guess you're sword's the other idiot? Wow Fenris are you talking to your weapons like Varric now?"

Immediately after hearing the sound of her voice Fanris stood up to see if his ears weren't deceiving him. But it was Tifea, standing there with a smug look on her face, happy to see him, but that wasn't what he saw. He saw the scrapes and scratches on her armor that resembled the claws on his gloves, the bruises and cuts on her left arm and face that he knew that he caused. The rogue jumped up to hug Fenris, to his surprise, then went to picking the locks on the cuffs that bound him to the wall.

He looked down at her with disappointment directed only to himself, "Why? How?"

"No time to explain we need to get out of here now."

"Did you come here alone?"

"No the others should be waiting outside this door."

After being released, and allowing Fenris to equip is gear, the two darted up the steps stopping at the entrance to the prison. Tifea slowly creaks the door open, hoping not to surprise the three waiting outside.

"Aveline?... Varric, Merrill?"

Upon seeing no on Fenris looked to the rogue in frustration, "I thought you said you didn't come alone."

"I didn't… They couldn't have left, where are they?"

Fenris and Tifea then snuck around the building looking for their three lost companions until one of them began to notice something odd.

"Why aren't there any guards about?" wondered Fenris, "Danarius normally keeps them around every inch of his home."

They then enter the foyer, and after stepping into the center of the room they found themselves surrounded by shades, with one that appeared behind Tifea.

Startled Tifea shifted closer to the elf "Wait, what's going on?!"

"What is going on indeed…"

The two looked to see Danarius at the top of the stairs in the foyer holding an elven girl by her.

"Did you really think you could sneak around my home and steal my slave again?"

"Fenris doesn't belong to anyone!"

"Oh really… I believe he would say otherwise, given the circumstances"

"What have you done with my—"

"Your friends?" smiled Danarius, "or do you mean those other trespassers that I have sent to the fade."

"What!" Tifea immediately switched from her daggers to load her bow and readied a shot for Danarius's face.

"Let them go Danarius!" yelled Fenris but Danarius paid him no mind, his eyes still locked on Tifea.

"Return me my slave and I will give you back your companions." The elf in his hand starts to fidget out of fear and Tifea's eye quickly shifts from her back to Danarius.

"What part of this deal is preventing me from killing you right here right now?"

Danarius smiled, then pulled up the girl by her hair making her scream out in pain, "do you recognize _this_ Fenris?"

"Why should I?"

Danarius finally looksed to Fenris and chuckled, "because this is your younger sister, do you not remember her?"

"Don't play games with me Danarius, how do I know that this isn't a trick?!"

Danarius then pulled the girl's hair and throwed her to the ground ready to cast a fire ball at her face, "tell him!"

The girl looked to Fenris with fear in her eyes and spoke quickly, "brother please he does not lie. I've seen everything that you have been through with the master, I know when you escaped after the death of the Fog Warriors, I know that you have been the master's body guard, I- AH!"

Danarius thrust his foot into her stomach silencing, "that's enough."

As Danarius looked back to Tifea, Fenris looked up at him in furry not sure of what he was going to do next. Tifea, now stuck in a dilemma, had to consider her options, if she let Fenris go then his supposed sister will be stuck there too any way, but she'd be alive.

"What are you offering Danarius."

"Just a simple request… Hawk, is it? Give me back my body guard and I will give you this," the mage stepped on head of the already frightened elf, "and your companions back only if you give me your word that you will never set foot on my estate again."

Tifea slowly lowered her bow and thought it over, even though she already knew what decision she was going to make.

"Just let me go Tifea."

Tifea glared at Fenris in anger although she knew he was right.

Infuriated she looked up to the mage, "Alright, but I want to see my companions and the girl safe at my side before I give you Fenris."

"You drive a hard bargain Hawk, but very well."

Danarius then waved his hands in some pattern and within second Tifea saw a dark blue light fill the room then disappear. From the wall, to the right of the rogue, came three shades carrying the pale bodies of Aveline, Merrill and Varric. Once released they all fell to the ground and only after a few seconds did each of them try to stand up using their weapons as a balance.

Then came a forth shade carrying the body of the frightened elven girl. Once she was set on the ground she turned her head to Fenris with a sad look upon her face. Fenris didn't even glance in her direction; he then jumped to the right hand side of Danarius only looking to the ground.

"Let's go guys," uttered Tifea as she led her party and the elf out of the estate.

After the doors to the estate slamed shut, Danarius smiled.

"Well, well, well what did I say before, my little wolf?" As Danarius spoke his guards removed Fenris's weapon from his possession and began to restrain him. "I am the one that will set the date, in which you are freed, not that girl." Danarius then motioned for a guard to come to his side. "Very sneaky of her though, it was lucky that I sensed the presence of magic from one of her companions otherwise I probably wouldn't have known that any of them were here." A guard stopped close enough to Danarius side for the mage to whisper something into the guard's ear.

Fenris heard every word that Danarius uttered to the guard and the mage knew it. When the elf heard his fate he began to go against his restraints, attempting to free himself from the clutched of Danarius's gaurds.

"No! I refuse-"

Danarius only looked to Fenris with a straight face dead in the eyes, "you don't have a choice. Take him!"

"No!"

Fenris then started to use the claws on his gloves to cut his way out of the guards' hold but with only little results. He only got a few feet away before more guards and Danarius's shades blocked his way and over whelmed him. The master of the estate then looked down upon his slave, with his same blank stare.

"You shouldn't have crossed me Fenris."

Part IV

In the forest the five were walking, after their defeat, back to Kirkwall, with still about an hour's walk before seeing the city gates. As they walked Merrill, being the slowest, looked to the others amazed at their speed and began to wonder.

"I've never seen the fade in such a horrible state before… how can all of you walk so fast after being in that kind of place."

Varric rubbed his hair only looking at the grass while he answered Merrill's question, "Daisy, I've only been to the fade once and even that experience wasn't too good. This is my normal walking pace I'm just ready to head back home."

Upon hearing this, the elf girl immediately stopped and looked to the group in astonishment. "You mean you aren't going back? But I thought-"

"Look," Aveline looked to the elf with tired eyes, "we all are worried about Fenris, but right now none of us have the power or energy to fight that guy. There isn't much we can do."

The others stopped to look at Aveline then back at the elf. The elf, still astonished, ran towards Tifea who was still walking, looking down and kicking the rocks as they cross her path. The elf then stopped in front of her forcing Tifea to stop.

"You have to go back! You have to help him," she pleaded, "the master; he won't rest unless he knows for sure that he's going to stay loyal! Please! I heard the master talk about the tattoos again! Please don't let my brother go through that again!"

Tifea started to look up at the elf as she continued her plea.

"The first time they did that horrible thing to him they made me watch! They made me watch as they branded that lyrium into his body like he was some kind of animal! I could only imagine what pain it caused him, but all I know is that, after they did that to him, he wasn't the same any more. All he did was listen to the master he couldn't remember me or any of the other slaves. Please you have to go back! You have to help him."

After hearing this Aveline looked to Tifea, "well Hawk?"

Tifea looked back at the ground then kicked the next rock that she saw, but this time she kicked it up into her hand and threw it into a tree limb, breaking the limb. Tifea looked up at the branch now with only its outer bark allowing it to stay connected its trunk; she then looked back at the elf.

"Merrill, please take this girl to your house in the alienage and take care of her, after you've all gone to Anders of course."

"What about you Hawk?" asked Varric, "you can't just-"

"You are not going back on your own," stated Aveline as she walked to Tifea's side, "I am sorry girl but Tifea is not-"

"I'm going back Aveline, I'll be fine."

"Be fine?!" exclaimed Merrill then she immediately said some elven 'god forbid' word, "that is a powerful mage Tifea, not to mention all of his guards; you could get killed in there."

Tifea turned around and looked at her party with a blank unreadable stare on her face.

"No, I refuse to let you-"

"Aveline," spoke Varric as he looked into Tifea's eyes, being the only one able to read, not her facial expression, but look in her eyes. "We need to head to Anders and get fixed up, I'm sure Hawk can handle herself."

Varric then walked pass Tifea, "Good luck Hawk," and continued his walk towards Kirkwall.

After watching Varric go, Merrill then walked pass Tifea and took the arm of the elven girl and looked at her, "come on, we have a long walk ahead of us," she then glanced at Tifea, "good luck Serah." Then she and the elf girl (Nessa) walked off to follow up with Varric.

Aveline, afterword's, stared at Tifea for the longest time then walked up to her but does not pass her. Instead she looked at Tifea in the face and said, "If you don't return, Hawk…" the warrior then walked around Tifea to catch up with the others. Tifea is now standing in the middle of the forest in the middle of the night, alone. Only after a few seconds after Aveline left Tifea started to run, back in the direction of Danarius's estate.

Once Tifea reached the estate she started to look around to see where Danarius would be holding such a ritual, but it wasn't too hard to find. At the back of the estate was a building, almost like a barn but more elegant and made of bricks. The double doors were open and from there she could hear everything that was going on.

The guards had already strapped down Fenris to the table, as ordered by Danarius, despite his retaliations. Tifea could hear Fenris grunting as he attempted to escape, as she walked closer to him.

"If you hadn't of turned on me Fenris, then maybe this would have been different. Prepare for the ritual. I want this to begin as soon as possible."

A guard salutes the mage, "Yes sir."

From the door, Tifea was able to see the entire room; candles were the only things that lit the place, there were three guards on the two balconies of the building, and four mages were going to surround the table for the ritual with Danarius at the head. She also saw Fenris's equipment, but not just his weapon, his armor as well, near the left of the door. Then Tifea remembered that in order for the ritual to work all the body parts that were going to be branded had to be exposed to the lyrium and not to be covered by any type of obstruction. She then shook her head of the thought and concentrated on what her plan was going to be to get Fenris out of this place.

_Blow out the candles, take everyone out, while getting the equipment and release Fenris._

But right when Tifea ended her thought the ritual began. The mages started to mumble mystical words of power as they moved around and did hand motions to cast the spell. As Danarius spoke his mystic words, he placed both of his hands on the side temples of Fenris's head and the branding began. Lyrium, from the circle placed round them, rose from off the ground and started to circle Fenris's body. Then there was yelling.

It distracted Tifea, all she could hear or think of was Fenris's screams of pain. Although this distracted her, it took her only a few seconds to snap out of it.

_Move Tifea,_ she thought, _or it will be too late!_

She then used her arrows to blow out all the candles and once all the gaurds were in hysteria, she moved around to put Fenris's equipment in her backpack. Then with her right eye, being able to see every bit of lyrium in other people's bodies, she saw all of the guards in the dark and picked them off one by one. She then turned to the four mages at the table and Tifea, step by step, moved closer to pick them off and released Fenris from his restraints. After all the mages were killed Tifea dragged Fenris's body off the table and pushed him up.

"Move!"

The elf was delusional and uneasy; it was hard for him to move in a straight line in the pitch dark. But they both almost got to the door before the mage came too his senses and figured out what was going on.

"Stop you thief!"

Danarius's fire aura filled the air with his rage. The lighting from this effect exposed the position of rogue and her friend to the mage. "How dare you return to my estate after giving your WORD!" right when he said 'word' poison darts from his fingers shot at Tifea, as she turned around, hitting her on both arms and in the stomach. Fenris only watched as Tifea fell over in pain. "Die scoundrel!" shouted the mage.

"Not until you die first…" uttered Tifea as she slowly got back to her feet.

"What?"

"Varric now!"

The mage immediately turned around getting ready for a back attack but see's nothing.

_-RIP-_

A dagger hit the mage through his right shoulder blade as it pinned him to the wall.

"GNAAAH!"

Upon seeing Danarius pinned down Fenris took Tifea's arm and ran from the estate.

Part V

"Wait… wait wait."

They've been running for what seemed like hours to Tifea, and she was running out of breath. She began to slow down tugging on Fenris's arm in a notion for him to stop. In irritation he glared at her.

"What do you mean stop! We're still not far enough-"

But before he could finish he saw the blood dripping from her arms and stomach as she was kneeling and staring at the ground. He could only guess how long her blood had been dripping like that so he knelt next to her to examine her wounds. Tifea slowly raised her head to see what Fenris was doing, but it only took her a split second to realize her mistake and look away. Looking inside her backpack, Tifea took out his equipment, hands it to him with her head down and whispers.

"Here's you equipment."

When the elf finally realized the reason for her actions he thanked her and reequipped his armor. As he was doing so, he started to listen to Tifea's breathing, it was extremely uneven. Once dressed, he looked at her wounds and even then realized that she was sweating heavily, she was badly poisoned and it appeared as though she'd been bleeding ever since they left the estate. Fenris then took her backpack, and looked inside in search of a health potion.

_At least this will reduce the speed of the poison a bit._

"Drink this."

Tifea took the bottle into her shaking hands and drank. Once the bottle was empty she dropped it and fell into Fenris's arms. When he held her he noticed she was slightly colder than she should be.

_Damn it! I need to get her to Anders quickly…_

He put his backpack onto Tifea's back then pushed her onto his, to carry her to Kirkwall. Her breathing was getting slower.

"Tifea."

No response.

"_Tifea!_"

"What?!... what what?!"

She sounded tired and drained of energy, be he knew that if she fell asleep she might not wake up again.

"You need to stay awake."

Tifea's eyes were still closed but she scrunched up her face as if Fenris had just offended her.

"No I don't."

"Yes you do. If you fall asleep the poison-"

"No it won't! Now let me sleep, gezz!"

This infuriated Fenris, she wasn't listening to him and she didn't want to, but before he was about to shout at her he remembered what the poison actually did. He remembered that when he was Danarius's body guard the mage would sometimes give him different poisons to fight with, one of which made allies turn against each other, because of what the poison did to their minds. The poison would make the person feel like he or she was well, even though the poison was slowly killing them. And when anyone would tell them differently they would fight against their discriminator. They would even fight to death of either the one who was poised or the discriminator, depending on which was stronger and once the battle ended, if the poisoned lived, he would still be delusional.

Tifea wasn't listening to him only because of the poison and she wasn't going to listen to anything unless it was to her liking or, in her opinion, interesting.

_What would interest her…_

Fenris looked back at the sleeping body on his back then finally thought of something.

"Which dagger did you throw at Danarius?"

"Which dagger?… Um…" Tifea finally slightly opened her eyes trying to remember what happened back at the estate. "I think… I don't think it was one of my better daggers. I'd want to guess that it was just one I was going to sell later."

"You're probably right it wouldn't have been one of your better daggers; if it was that would have been a waste."

Tifea smiled, "Yeah it would have been. Considering it didn't even kill him… stupid mage. I'll have to tell Bethany about this."

"I am sure she will be very interested in what you've been doing lately."

The conversation went on as he carried Tifea to Kirkwall. At first Fenris found it to be meaningless and foolish, but as they talked, their conversation slowly began to interest him a bit more.

_Thump! Thump!_

"Blast… this late in the night…Who is it?"

Anders half asleep walked up to the door of his shed in Darktown only annoyed at the thought of anyone bothering him at his home this late in the night. Upon opening the door all his thoughts of irritation were erased. He saw Fenris carrying Tifea now lightly bleeding on both arms, but with blood still dripping off of Frenris from her stomach. Her injuries were still perceptible, especially the scratches on her face that reopened. Tifea eyes were only half open, looking as if she was daydreaming as she lay on the elf's back. They both looked drained and ragged, a state that Anders had never seen Fenris in. The mage then led them both into his home and once inside Fenris carefully placed Tifea onto a cot. Anders looked down at Tifea with concern.

"Aveline told me to expect you two to be back late and injured, but this?"

"She is poisoned, and it's affecting her mind. Heal her as quickly as you can, please."

Fenris then turned to leave. Watching the elf leave irritated the mage.

"Aren't you going to wait for her to get up? From what I can see Tifea almost died for you and all you're going to do is walk away?!"

Fenris stopped at the door and, not allowing Anders a single glance, gave a response.

"That's why I don't want to stay. I will give a message to Aveline telling her to take Tifea back home when you're finished."

And he was gone. Anders looked to Tifea's damaged body and could only sigh. His work on removing the poison then began, knowing if he didn't start now, one of his closet friends may not make it through the night.

"Anders? Are you awake?"

Aveline walked into Anders's clinic only to see Tifea's arms and stomach covered in bandages. Anders then came from the corner of the room with more bandages, that she could only assume were for Tifea.

"How is she?"

"She should be okay now. But she'll need more than just one day's worth of rest. I have never removed such a potent poison before."

Aveline then saw a green vial not too far from where Tifea was laying.

"When will she be waking up?"

As Aveline spoke Tifea's senses were starting to return to her. She heard Aveline's question and could only squint in response. Her body felt as if anchers were placed on her wrists and ankles. She was still tired but she knew she had to get up at one time or another so she used all the energy she could muster to sit up on the cot, and scratch her head.

"Now I guess," said Anders as he watched Tifea's attempt to sit up straight, "Tifea you will be leaving to your home with Aveline. It will only be a couple hours until morning so I doubt anyone will be on the streets to bother the both of you."

Aveline walked over to pick up Tifea's backpack then looked to Tifea.

"Are you ready? Let's go, alright."

"Wait," Tifea looked confused then looked around the room slowly, "where's Fenris?"

Aveline looked to Anders who of which shook his head in an attempt to tell Aveline not to tell Tifea where Fenris went.

"Ahh… It doesn't matter right now. What matters is that you get home so that you can rest."

Tifea looked at Aveline, to sleepy to argue, and then got up to put on her boots and gloves. Just moving her body was a difficult task for her, much less putting on her boots. Anders and Aveline had to help her equip her boots as she put back on her gloves.

Anders and Aveline both helped Tifea get onto her feet then lean onto Aveline. As Aveline walked Tifea to her home Tifea started to worry and wondered why Fenris didn't stay.

"Aveline, could you take me to Fenris's mansion. Please."

Aveline glanced at Tifea with concern.

"Tifea, you need to rest. You need to return home, don't worry about Fenris, please."

Tifea looked back to Aveline with disgruntlement, only to look back down at the rocks on the streets. Aveline could only question what she was doing, whether it was the right thing to do or what she thought was right thing to do. To Aveline all these choices were draining and it seemed like the sun was never going to rise to end the night. In her mind this had been the longest night that she had ever been though ever since she met Tifea.

Part VI

_Should I have stayed with her? What would that have done? I don't even deserve to be in her presence. What's wrong with me?! I didn't even think she was coming to help…Why is this so hard…_

Sitting in front of a well-lit fire place was Fenris, not in his usual chair but cross legged on the ground. His head was down, all he could think about was the whole ordeal with Danarius and how much trouble it caused Tifea. The elf then turned to the side to look at his right hand then his left, he then removed the gloves from both his hands only to see the white tattoo markings that ran pass his figure tips to under his hands and arms. He then glared at both of his hands in anger.

_It's because of this isn't! These damn accursed tattoos! If it wasn't for these I could have, no, I would have remembered everything from my past… and then… maybe..._

Slowly he set both of his hands back on his knees and tried to calm himself down, but it didn't work. He then squeeze his head, and growled in anger.

"Why is this so hard?!"

"Why is what so hard?"

Immediately when Fenris heard Tifea's voice he put his hands down back on his knees, and looked towards the fire, "Nothing." At that moment Fenris tried to recollect his thoughts to come up with something that'd make her leave.

"Shouldn't you be at home. I told Aveline to take you home once Anders was finished healing you."

Tifea, without saying anything, walked over to the elf and sat next to him, and started looking at the fire herself.

"I know, but I wanted to see if you were ok… I saw the ritual before I was able to stop it and I could only imagine what kind of pain that must have caused you."

Fenris was still looking at the fire, now feeling guiltier than before. She was still concerned about him even though she was the one who was so badly injured.

"I also wanted to ask you how long I was out for."

Confused, the elf gave her a disheartened glimpse.

"What do you mean?"

Tifea fidgeted a little just to be more comfortable on her legs before she answered Fenris's question.

"Well," she started, still looking at the fire, "I can only remember when I threw the dagger at Danarius then waking up at Anders's place… everything in between that, is a blur."

Fenris then looked back at the fire half upset and half grateful at the fact that she couldn't remember their conversation, as he began to remember some of the stupid things he said to her. Then a horrible thought hit him. The poison made her forget all of that and it almost killed her, the idea of this immediately made him think about what might happen in the future. What if Danarius comes back and they are all not as lucky as they were this night. Fenris, knowing that he'd be the only one left alive if Danarius decided to kill them all, couldn't bare the idea of Tifea dying because of him. Or an even worse, the idea that he would be the one to kill her out of cold blood because he was unable to remember her or even remember that he loved her.

Fenris was quiet for a long time, then Tifea saw his head go down a little more, she could only wonder what he was thinking about. She then saw him lift his head a bit, but she could tell that his mood wasn't any better.

"You know that this might happen again," whispered Fenris as he stared into the fire.

Tifea instantly knew what he was thinking and got up. She moved around him until she was able to position herself in his lap. She tried her best to hold back her tears as she leaned against him, but she wasn't too successful.

"Please don't leave Fenris…" she whispered.

The elf, not accustomed to such a reaction, could only look at her with confusion, until he saw her tears. Fenris had never seen Tifea cry not even when she realized that her mom was killed, this only made him feel guiltier.

_What did I say? How did I make her cry?_

"I don't care if Danarius comes back," she murmured, "we will be able to handle him. We know what he's capable of now… please Fenris…"

Fenris, recognizing his mistake, then slowly embraced Tifea in his arms. His thinking was if he left she would feel safer, that she would _be_ safer without him, but after hearing her speak he realized his mistake.

"Forgive me, I… I didn't mean to upset you."

"Then stay… please," she whispered, "so many things that I've had, that I've cared about are gone… Carver, Bethany, my mother, my old home, my father… If you leave I know I'll have the others but… it wouldn't feel the same… I'd still feel… alone."

Tifea then felt Fenris's hand push up on her chin to look up at him. And when she barely began to gazed into Fenris's eyes he kissed her. Slowly closing her eyes she kissed Fenris while tears streamed down her face, and when it ended she saw him looking down at her with a smile.

"For as long as I live Tifea, you will never be alone."

Tifea then smiled herself, and laid her head back onto his chest. She closed her eyes tightly and wiped them with her hand trying her best to stop crying. After opening her eyes she looked down and saw Fenris's hand.

"I've… never see you without your gloves on."

She saw the white tattoos run along from his arm to the tips of his fingers rounding to under his hand to his palm. She traced the tattoos on his hand with her index finger and immediately Fenris's smile disappeared. It was because of the man who gave him those tattoos that she was almost killed, what could she find so fascinating about them.

Tifea then stopped tracing them and made her eyes half closed.

"I've never told anyone this before… not even Bethany… but the tattoos on my right eye are like the ones on your body."

Fenris looked at her perplexed.

"The tattoos on your eye are lyrium tattoos?"

"Yes. My father gave them to me when I was seven."

This infuriated Fenris, making him clench his fist.

_How could anyone do that to their child?_

Tifea took his hand in hers and whispered to him to make him relax a bit.

"It wasn't like that Fenris."

"How could your father do that to you?"

Tifea looked down at Fenris's hand again, and now only spoke softly to him.

"He didn't do it to be mean or anything. He did it so that I could protect Bethany, and maybe even my family."

"What?"

"When I was seven my father introduced me to one of his friends, he was also a mage. We went to his house and my father sat me down on the bed and started speaking to me very seriously. I remember exactly what he said. He said 'your younger sister, Bethany, has been blessed with very unique but powerful abilities. I know at times that you or your sister or even your brother will want to use these abilities for fun or to get back at someone, but none of these reasons are important enough to get your sister into a lot of trouble are they?' and of course I said no. He then nodded to his friend, then I saw his friend leave and come back with, I think, two glasses of lyrium, I then looked back at my father. He hugged me then looked at me seriously, 'I am going to give something to you' he said. 'Something that will help you make better choices in your life. Choices that will help protect Bethany and the whole family, alright,' and I nodded again. He then told me he loved me and he know that I would thank him in the future for what he was about to do. He then a cast a spell to paralyze me, I guess so I wouldn't feel it as much.

"I remember the spell being so painful, it was like he threw a giant bolder at my eye and I couldn't do anything to remove it. I remember being blind for about one or two days… Heh I even remember my mom fussing at my dad for doing this to my eye without telling her…"

Tifea then looked back into the fire with a stare.

"But he was right… I was grateful for it."

Fenris was surprised by that answer.

"How could you be grateful?"

"Because, with my right eye I was able to make my father's death less painful, I was able to get my family to run from Loathering before the blight hit us. I was able to keep my sister safe from the Circle for so many years. And when the choice came to bring her into the Deep Roads I saw that she was going to get the taint from the Darkspawn and die if she came with me… so I made her stay, even if it meant she had to go to the Circle.

"If it wasn't for this eye Fenris I wouldn't have known the time to go to Danarius's estate in our first attempt to save you. And I wouldn't have been able to see the guards or the mages without it in the second attempt…"

Tifea then looked up at the elf with sad eyes knowing that there was a difference.

"But your tattoos are different than mine," she looked back down at his hand, "someone forced you to have them. They made you suffer more than your body could take and for their own gain… not yours. So I can see how you can see these tattoos as a curse, because they've only brought you suffering, but the both of us have something in common with our tattoos." She then looked up to him then laid her head back onto his chest, "We both use them to our advantage."

The elf thought about what Tifea said. If it wasn't for the tattoos, he wouldn't have had all the power that he possesses now. And now, that power has been put to good use, to protect someone he cared for… not someone he hated. Fenris then looked back down at her and tried to think of a way to make her laugh, just to lighten the mood a bit.

"So… Then why are yours blue and purple?"

Tifea closed her eyes, smiled then yawned at his question.

"Because I painted mine. Bethany said I looked silly with a bunch of white lines on my face."

The elf then noticed that Tifea sounded as if she was about to doze off. So he picked her up, supporting her neck and her knees, and carried her to her home. The night was no longer pitch black, but had a hint of light on the horizon. Once inside her house, Fenris brought Tifea to her bedroom, laid her on her bed and covered her with blankets. Part of him was glad that there were no windows in her room, so that she may rest, but another part of him wished that she could of seen the morning come. Before leaving he heard her whisper in her sleep.

"Good night, Fenris."

He looked back at her, knelt down and as he pushed aside her bang, kissed her on her forehead then headed towards the door.

Once outside the mansion he saw the sun rise and he smiled. Frenris then looked back at the Hawk estate, knowing that he would never let this happen to Tifea again and was glad she was back at home safe.

"Good morning, Tifea."

The elf looked back at the roads of Hightown and started his walk back to his mansion.

Closeness to real story.

During his personal quest Alone in Act 3, Fenris confronts his former master Danarius. Hawke has the option to return Fenris and allow him to be taken back to Tevinter. If Hawke agrees he will simply give up and allow them to take him without a fight. Later, Hawke will recieve a letter from Danarius stating; "Many thanks for the kind return of my property. Fenris is his usual compliant self now that his memories have been once again removed. Not a simple process, but considering the investment, I consider it very much worthwhile. As promised, I'm enclosing a little gift from the storehouses of the Arcanist House of Minrathous. Should you ever find yourself in the Imperium, do feel free to visit. I'll provide a tour of the Hall myself, if you like."

If Bethany / Carver are dead during Best Served Cold in Act 3, Fenris can be taken hostage by Grace and Thrask.


End file.
